Food - Drink
Potato Starch Vs. Potato Flour: What's The Difference?
By EMILY BOYETTE
Potatoes are often eaten as a delicious go-to side dish, but raw potatoes' natural starches and chemical makeup are also used to create two super-versatile ingredients: potato starch and potato flour. While these two powdered ingredients can sometimes be used interchangeably, they have nutritional and culinary differences.
Potato starch is made by crushing potatoes, producing a milky substance; the starch is then rinsed and dehydrated into powder. Potato starch does not behave like flour; it's similar to cornstarch, but combines with water more easily, making it a great thickener for soups, sauces, and casseroles, or as a light coating on fried foods.
Potato flour is made from whole potatoes that are cooked, dried, and ground into powder with a potato-like flavor, but a similar look and feel to wheat flour. Potato flour can't be used exactly like wheat flour, but it is more nutritious and works great in yeasted breads, as a binding agent in meatloaf or meatballs, or as part of a flour blend in baked sweets.
As for nutrition, potato flour contains vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber; potato starch does not have as many nutrients, but it is a resistant starch, a natural prebiotic. Usually, potato flour and starch should not be used interchangeably when baking, but to increase moisture in yeasted bread, try using ¾ cup of potato starch to replace 1 cup of potato flour.